The 16 Authentic Growth® Drivers Every CEO Should Understand

The 16 Authentic Growth® Drivers Every CEO Should Understand

Growth isn’t just about increasing sales. For CEOs of small to mid-sized businesses, achieving sustainable and scalable growth requires a broader, more strategic approach. While your scrappy, sales-driven strategies have gotten you this far, the next phase of your company’s journey demands a deeper understanding of what really drives growth. This is where the expertise of a Fractional CMO comes in. By leveraging diverse growth drivers, a Fractional CMO helps your business identify gaps, prioritize resources, and focus on meaningful outcomes.  Below, we explore 16 “Authentic Growth® Drivers” that can help transform your business, guiding you toward lasting success. 1.…
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Authentic Founder & CEO Jennifer Zick Joins 2025 ACG Minnesota Board of Directors

Authentic Founder & CEO Jennifer Zick Joins 2025 ACG Minnesota Board of Directors

Minneapolis, MN, January 6, 2025 – Authentic is proud to announce that our Founder and CEO, Jennifer Zick, has been appointed to the 2025 Board of Directors for the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) Minnesota. ACG Minnesota is a global community for middle market M&A dealmakers and business leaders focused on driving growth. In her role as an “at large” board member, Jennifer will leverage her deep background in sales, marketing, and entrepreneurship to provide advisory input and cross-functional leadership, helping ACG-MN launch new programs, drive membership and engagement, and multiply the impact of their mission. Jennifer Zick expressed her…
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Is the Agency of Record Relevant in Today’s Marketing Landscape

Is the Agency of Record Relevant in Today’s Marketing Landscape

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmBy0DfnRR4 Video Transcription 20 years ago, when I first started my career in sales and marketing, most marketing capabilities were handled by agencies of record, those traditional agencies that provided the whole landscape of marketing execution capabilities, from advertising to events and sponsorships and PR.  But in the past 20 years, the landscape of marketing capabilities has changed dramatically and exponentially. And that traditional agency of record has really been challenged as a result, because one single source can't possibly provide the thousands of different micro disciplines that marketing requires for today's businesses. So while there are still traditional agencies,…
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What should you measure for marketing when you have zero baseline data?

What should you measure for marketing when you have zero baseline data?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJm5fLRNOpY Video Transcription What should you measure for marketing when you have zero data to form a hypothesis or to set a baseline?  Hi, I'm Jennifer Zick. I'm the founder and CEO of Authentic®. Our fractional CMOs are working with growing businesses every day, helping them to Overcome Random Acts of Marketing® and confidently take the next right step in growth.  But sometimes the next right step is into a bit of a blind zone. Some of our clients have never had sophisticated or even basic technology to help them capture a baseline when it comes to how customers interact…
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How do you know your long-term marketing strategy is working?

How do you know your long-term marketing strategy is working?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdf2DcF2j50 Video Transcription Ryan Tansom: How do you know that what you're doing is the right approach when you're building a community or doing that long term play like that? Because for me, I know it's the right approach. But how do you prove that what you're doing is the right approach other than just the gut.  Jennifer Zick: Yeah, there's proof points along the way. Okay, so for me, it all started by centering on what's our purpose in the world? Who should matter to us? Why should we matter to them? How do we build something that gives…
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Trust equity: Harnessing the power of trust to fuel early-stage growth

Trust equity: Harnessing the power of trust to fuel early-stage growth

Brands are built, scaled, and sustained based on buyer trust. The value of trust in fueling growth cannot be underestimated. For startups and early-stage businesses (whose brands are essentially unknown), trust-building must be a top priority, cultivated proactively, and re-invested with purpose. Hear from Jennifer Zick, CEO of Authentic, as she shares a formulaic approach to trust-building; drawing upon her own entrepreneurial and startup growth experiences, and supported by Authentic’s Fractional CMO work with growing companies across the country and around the world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysyzNgl9JkA Video Transcription Introduction Hi everybody, this is Jennifer Zick coming to you from the global home…
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Fractional CMO | Your leadership resource for next-level growth

Fractional CMO | Your leadership resource for next-level growth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBk9D0CKTlc Video Transcription It's a common scenario for growing businesses. You reach your first 10, 15 or $20 million in revenue through a focused sales effort. You've grown through referrals and by retaining and expanding your customer relationships. You've built a strong base, but eventually you reach a growth plateau. What worked in the past is no longer working. You know that if your business isn't growing, it's dying. Staying stuck isn't an option.  To reach next level growth, you need to retain your current clients and reach buyers who don't know you yet. You need more at bats for…
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Sales and Marketing: Understanding these unique roles and their increasingly connected relationship

Sales and Marketing: Understanding these unique roles and their increasingly connected relationship

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKQmvrZe6jU Video Transcription Ryan Tansom: I gotta ask, what is your definition of sales versus marketing and how are they different and how do they actually work together? Jennifer Zick: Yeah, well, in our B2C clients, they really don't have sales teams. Right. They are all marketing driven. So we got to kind of set that over here. A lot of what we're talking about here, the dynamics are B2B. Right. Or in a combined organization where they have both. So in B2B, first of all, I am, because I've been in sales and sales management and marketing and marketing…
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Should you PAUSE marketing efforts when the market is unpredictable?

Should you PAUSE marketing efforts when the market is unpredictable?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB9UUT7znQU Video Transcription The market is crazy right now. The ripple effects of the pandemic continue to disrupt business operations and predictability in ways we couldn't have foreseen and are navigating in real time. Many businesses are struggling with what to do with the role of marketing and their marketing investments in a time when growth strategy is not challenged by a lack of demand for products or service, but by a lack of resources to deliver on that demand.  Hi, I'm Jennifer Zick, founder and CEO of Authentic®. Our community of fractional CMOs works with companies all across the…
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